Our Broken Pieces - M.E. Clayton Page 0,22

“Where’s the guest room?”

She let out a deep sigh. “This way,” she mumbled as she led the way.

Once we reached the banister of the second floor, Aubrey Dempsey sauntered up to us, maliciousness all over her pretty features. “This is a joke, right?” she huffed out. “I mean, you guys aren’t really dating, are you?” She flipped her hand around behind her. “Someone started a rumor that you guys have been dating for years.”

I knew Mystic could speak for herself, and as much a loner as she was, she still wasn’t afraid to defend herself. However, this was my fuck-up, not hers. I was the one who outed us because I was a jealous asshole, so I was the one who needed to back my words up.

I needed to prove to Mystic, and everyone else, that she was it for me.

“Four years, to be exact,” I replied as I stepped in front of Mystic, forcing her to inch to the side. “Mystic’s my girlfriend.”

Aubrey’s big blue eyes widened, and she looked genuinely surprised and offended. “Wait,” she exclaimed. “She’s the reason you’ve been turning me down all this time? Mystic Anderson is the reason no girl in school has ever gotten a chance with you?”

I stepped to her, ready to crush her. “Mystic’s the reason for everything I do, Aubrey,” I hissed in her face. “I can’t see past the girl behind me to notice the rest of you desperate bitches. So, yeah, Mystic’s the reason I keep turning down your easy access.”

“Gage-”

I whirled around on Mystic. “Don’t,” I growled. “Do. Not.”

“Gage-”

“No, Mystic. She walked up to us, ready to insult you or worse. Don’t come at me about how I’m talking to her. No one gets to judge our relationship and not get told the fuck off for it.” Fuck these jealous bitches. They had nothing on Mystic and the spell she had over me.

“Fuck you, Gage!” Aubrey yelled. “Who do you think you are?!”

I turned back to face her. “I’m the guy who knows the difference between what I’m continuously offered and what I have.” I peered down at her. “Say another fucked-up thing about Mystic or our relationship and you will regret it.” I didn’t wait for her reply. I pulled Mystic behind me and snapped, “Where’s the fucking room?” Luckily, it was just inside the hallway and we were inside with the door locked within seconds.

“Jesus, Gage,” Mystic exclaimed on a deep exhale, “what the hell was that?”

“What?”

“You know what,” she snapped. “People are going to talk shit, Gage. You can’t go around threatening everyone.”

“The fuck I can’t,” I argued. “You’re out of your fucking mind if you think I’m going to stand by and let people insult you, me, or us.”

I watched as she dropped on the bed and began rubbing her temples. “What a horrible night,” she muttered. “Christ.”

“What so fucking horrible about it?” I demanded. “Why the fuck do you care what these assholes think so much?”

She jumped up off the bed. “You act like they’re in the wrong for being curious.”

I stepped to her. “I don’t give a fuck if they’re curious. I care if they insult you. I care if they talk shit about you. And what we do is none of their fucking business.”

“Gage, this is putting me in a spotlight I never wanted to be in,” she said, and I saw fucking red.

“You ashamed to be seen with me?”

Her eyes widened. “Of course, not! It’s not that. It’s...our relationship is wrong, Gage. We’re defending something that’s wrong.”

I let out a dark laugh. “I’m not defending the way we fuck, Mystic. I know the things I do to you are wrong. Just like I know you letting me do all those things is wrong. But I’m not defending that. I’m defending our relationship as those motherfuckers know it. They think we have a regular teenage romance and that’s what they’re attacking. And I’ll be goddamned if I’m going to let them.”

She started shaking her head back and forth and I could see the weight of our exposure all over her beautiful face. “I don’t know how to handle this, Gage,” she told me honestly. “You were too much when I only had to deal with you on the minimum. Now...now I don’t know how to deal with you, Margot, and all the questions that are sure to come my way.”

“You’re not weak, Mystic,” I thundered in her face. “You don’t want people to see you as a victim, well, don’t